Barack Obama awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

But why? In recent times no sitting US President has received the Nobel Peace Prize - and some of them worked hard to create peace and stability in the world.  Gorbachev was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 but Reagan was ignored.

And if there's one US President who deserved the Nobel Peace Prize it was Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton, while in office got the Israeli Palestinian Agreement signed, played a key role in bringing the official conflct between Jordan and Israel,   and was a principal Character albeit behind the scenes in the Northern Ireland Peace Process - and has been a great humanitarian since leaving office and there is no Nobel Prize for him. So why Mr. Obama and why now? 

Especially his achievements in this area are negligible and there has not been much progress on the peace front in any one of the major hot spots in the world since President Obama took office. Well of course there was for soaring rhetoric - but is that good enough for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The award is certainly unexpected and might be regarded as more of an encouragement for intentions than a reward for achievements.

After all, the president has been in office for a little over eight months and he might hope to serve eight years. His ambition for a world free of nuclear weapons is one that is easier to declare than to achieve and a climate control agreement has yet to be reached.

Indeed, the citation indicates that it is President Obama's world view that attracted the Nobel committee - that diplomacy should be founded "on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population".

The committee attached special importance to Obama's vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons in the prize citation, which was read in Oslo on Friday.

"The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations," the citation said.

The Nobel committee said Obama has created a new climate in international politics that has focused on multilateral diplomacy and an emphasis on the role of the United Nations and other international institutions.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the citation said.

First, the administration is supposed to negotiate a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia before the current one expires at the end of this year. Mission accomplished? Not yet, although talks recently got underway, and the administration’s decision to scrap missile defense in Europe may help smooth negotiations.

Obama also said he wants to see ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the United States signed, but which the Senate did not ratify. That hasn’t happened yet either, although Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently took part in a biennial conference designed to win more support for the treaty. (The White House wants to push for ratification next year).

The president has also proposed a new treaty to halt production of fissile materials. That, to borrow a marvelous bit of Pentagonspeak, is a long pole in the tent. The UN Conference on Disarmament was stalled for over a decade trying to launch talks on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, in part because of U.S. objections. A verifiable cutoff treaty now has much broader support, but don’t expect India and Pakistan (who both still produce the stuff) to come to an quick agreement.

Finally, expect the Nobel Prize award to turn the spotlight on internal disagreements within the administration over the future of the nuclear weapons stockpile. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, for instance has said in the past that United States needs the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a new nuclear weapon design, if it is to maintain a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing while reducing stockpiles. It will be interesting to see if this prize changes the debate about re-sizing the nuclear arsenal.